


Generic Beginnings

by Lucifurs



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Family, Friendship, Generic Meeting Origin Story, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Miles "Tails" Prower Needs a Hug, Sorry if this is bad, They just need hugs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:35:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23570164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucifurs/pseuds/Lucifurs
Summary: Tails was just a fox kit looking to get by, but when a hero in a plane crashes down near where he lives, he may not only gain a friend, but a brother as well.Summary's pretty bad, just another generic Tails meeting Sonic story!
Relationships: Miles "Tails" Prower & Sonic the Hedgehog
Comments: 47
Kudos: 112





	1. Crash

**Author's Note:**

> So, First of all, I haven't written a fanfic in YEARS. I am so sorry if this is terrible. I just wanted to write a generic story of Tails and Sonic meeting, so here it is!
> 
> Characters don't belong to me, obviously!

It was a sunny, typical day on Westside Island. The village was already awake in the early morning, activity bustling. Mobians walking to shops and kids already at play, but one child was on the outskirts, looking in. He shifted among the forest's trees.

Miles had awoken with the sun just like the rest of the village and had skittered towards the buildings, belly grumbling. His hunger was guiding him, but he held back from running in, wanting to be careful.

His twin-tails flicked impatiently as he peeked out of the cover of the trees, looking towards a small restaurant. There were a few mobians already sitting at tables just outside of the place, enjoying the sun and eating their breakfasts. None seemed to notice the fluffy kit eyeing their food from the greenery. 

The fox wasn't too far from them, as this restaurant wasn't that far from the forest. It was one of the closest places to get food from, provided he didn't get caught. Miles sighed quietly, as he readied himself. He didn't like to steal, but it had been a couple of days since he'd gotten good food. 

Mostly, he ended up having to steal from the trash or find some fruits in the forest. But he'd rather not try that again, because the last few berries he ate made him feel sick for the rest of the day. The kit shuddered a little remembering the cramps he'd had.

It wasn't very long until he spotted a good time to dash out, when two squirrel mobians stood up from their seats, leaving scraps and their bill on the table. Miles could smell the pancake syrup from where he was, and his mouth watered. It was time to go for it! 

He rushed out as quietly as he could, sticking closer to the building wall itself and peering over the corner for a moment, and then running over to the now empty table, before the small restaurant's owner or waiters noticed that the two had left their meal. He ducked almost underneath the table itself, waiting a moment, ears pricked. 

When no yell or harsh comment came towards him, he reached up for the closest plate, pulling it down to himself and wasting no time in practically inhaling what was less than half of a pancake on it. 

It was delicious, and even still warm! But Miles didn't really have time to savor it, as the kit knew he may get caught any moment now. He carefully placed the plate back onto the table, and grabbed the other plate, finding just a piece of bread left on it. 

Grabbing it as he still chewed the rest of the pancake, it was just in time to hear the owner of the place call out angrily. "Hey now!" The steps hurried towards Miles, and he didn't have to look to know that the bear mobian was coming towards him with a broom, as he'd done many times before. "Get outta here! Payin' customers only, shoo!" 

The fox swallowed hard on the last of the pancake, bread still in his hand and he yipped as he felt the wind of the broom just over his head as he ducked down and made a mad dash back towards the forest. He took a glance just as he made it to the cover, diving down past a bush, just to make sure he wasn't being followed, though the adult didn't keep chasing him past the general area of the tables. 

He never did, but sometimes Miles felt that if he'd make him mad enough, the owner might just keep chasing him like some of the other adults do. One woman had tried to catch him once for picking things out of her trash, and she had been so determined that she chased him for a long time, through the forest. She'd screamed that she'd bring him to the police if she ever caught him, but Miles wasn't really sure why. After all, it was trash- something she didn't want anymore, but he guessed maybe she just didn't like him.

None of the kids liked him very much, and they chased him a lot, so that's why he guessed this way. He didn't go near the woman's house again after that, choosing instead to search garbage bins elsewhere. 

Catching his breath, still holding tightly onto the piece of bread which had now stopped being fluffy and started to drop a lot of crumbs(probably dropped plenty in the run to the forest, as well). The twin-tail ate the last of his food a little more slowly, mouth drying and making him wish he had been able to get a sip of a drink while he was at the table. But that was okay, because he knew where fresh water was.

Some children laughing made his large ears twitch, perking up and listening. They sounded like they were walking by the restaurant he had just run from, and not wanting to get noticed or seen, Miles started to slink away further into the trees. Sometimes when he's hidden behind bushes before, they've spotted him, so he didn't want to risk it right now, having just gotten food without getting whacked. 

He kept moving until he found a stream, and sat down at the edge so he could cup some into his hands and sip. "A good start to the day," He muttered to no one in particular, tails swaying behind him, happy now with food in his stomach. "Maybe I can find something to play with today, too."

The trickling noise of the stream kept the child content for the moment along with his belly full of food. His ears swiveled every now and then anyways, however, still listening for anybody approaching.

So when a very loud crash suddenly sounded nearby, the kit rightfully jumped, fur rising. His head turned towards the noise, and he realized that it had come from the beach. Curious, the little fox got up and headed towards the sound. As the trees thinned out to reveal the sandy beach-line, it was quite obvious what the crash was. There was nothing else around, but very clearly- a plane, smoking slightly, nestled into the sand, almost sideways. 

Miles slowed near the edge of the trees and bushes, choosing to stay within cover while he investigated, in case somebody were to spot him. "Wow," He breathed out as he looked over the scene before him. "A plane!" The fox didn't have to start to worry about whoever had crashed it, because an irritated voice came from the other side of the plane. "Great! Just great!" 

And a second later, the owner of the voice darted to the other side of the plane, jumping up and opening a panel on the side to let more smoke out. A blue hedgehog stood, tapping his foot as he angrily looked over the plane. The plane-crasher didn't look very hurt, though the end of some of his quills looked a little black from the smoke. 

He muttered a few more words, clearly upset, but Miles was too far away to make it out properly, and then in a blink of an eye the hedgehog zoomed off with a burst of speed, right past Miles and into the forest. 

He'd come pretty close to where the twin-tail was standing, enough so that it spooked Miles- falling straight onto his butt and slightly away from the wind-wrecked path that was left by the speedster. _That was really close!_ Even though the hedgehog was a stranger that he'd never seen before, the kit wasn't quite willing to be seen by him and face another person who wanted to harm him.  
Miles looked back towards the trail that the mobian left, tails flicking in hesitant interest, since the hedgehog had already gone. _But he was super fast. That was cool!_

It wasn't a great situation Sonic was in. His plane had started smoking, so he'd crash-landed on the beach, and in doing so successfully stranded himself for at least a few days. He'd sped off after giving a few choice words to plane, and eventually found himself at the nearest town, rather easily. 

That was probably the extent of his luck, having realized that his plane crashed just a little ways outside of this village. The first thing he did was check the amount of money he had, which all in all, might be enough to buy tools to fix the plane. That being said, he had hardly any idea what could be done to fix it, and probably not enough money to get someone else to fix it unless he wanted to go hungry.

Sighing, the hedgehog moved quickly around a few buildings until he came across one that looked like it had something to do wth mechanics, and walked in. "Hey there. What can I do ya for?" The question coming from an old man in the shop, who was bent over what looked to be an engine. "Hiya, I was wonderin' what would be good tools to fix a plane engine..." He trailed off, looking at the wall of tools behind the old lynx, slowly realizing he may need to get a little more specific.

The feline let out a scratchy laugh, "Well, sonny, that all depends on the type of plane engine ya got."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand that's it for this chapter! Hope you enjoyed! As of right now, I have another chapter written that I'll be posting soon!  
> Let me know what you thought and if you have any suggestions for me!  
> Also, I'll be looking to do something like this(Tails meeting Sonic) with the Sonic 2020 Movie Universe too, so if anyone has ideas they wanna bounce on me, feel free!


	2. Quick Fix

Enough time had passed, that Miles didn't think that the blue hedgehog was going to speed through again, and no one else had appeared yet, so he considered it safe enough to leave the safety of the leaves. 

He was curious about the plane, that had now slowly stopped smoking. His brain was working already, because machines always made him happy and this one might be left alone long enough for him to look at it. 

The fox kit tentatively stepped a few feet forward, ears lowered slightly as if he were going to get scolded for doing so. When no one called out about his presence, he was sure that no one else was here, and skipped out closer towards the plane, wide eyed. "Wow, it's pretty! Even if it's crashed." 

Slowly, he got close enough that he could touch it, and carefully pressed a hand to the metal, brushing off some sand from it. He couldn't help his tails twirling behind him as he investigated. 

He let his hand gently drag across the paint as he circled the plane, humming quietly, until he got to the side that was tilted closer to the ground and more easily accessible. He wondered how long until the owner of the plane got back, so he glanced around the edge of the plane towards where he had disappeared to, once, then twice, before finally crouching slightly and then using his muscles to jump up into the open seat of the plane. 

It was a squishy seat, something Miles immediately felt a little bad about touching, because he knew he was pretty dirty and such a nice plane shouldn't need to get more dirty, after the crash it went through. 

He looked around at the controls in the seat, tracing over them with a hand- wondering what each one did and trying to remember how it worked from some of the magazines he'd seen some time ago. The more he looked, the more he figured out what each button could do, but didn't dare touch any of the buttons or switches to test it, in case of actually harming the plane or turning it on. 

The kit was starting to peer over at the still open plate where the smoke had come from, but as soon as he looked over, he could see movement out of the corner of his eye, in the direction of the town. His heart jumped and he panicked without getting a better look, scrambling to get out of the plane and away from it. He fell down onto the ground with a 'plop!'. A little bit of sand flew off the ground from his collapse into it, and he felt the urge to sneeze, but rubbed his nose trying to hold it back. 

The movement he saw meant someone was coming, so getting to cover again was much more important than sneezing! His eyes burned a little from it, but he rushed to get up and stumbled towards the forest, in a slightly different direction of where he saw the movement. As soon as Miles was halfway to the forest, heart thumping in his ears, he knew he was right, because the hedgehog came walking out with an old lynx that the kit recognized as someone who worked in the mechanics shop.

He couldn't help himself when he froze, staring wide eyed at them, sneeze forgotten, for just a minute before continuing to bound towards the forest and into the safety of a bush, burrowing under the branches as quickly as he could, a few twigs breaking off into his fur and poking him. He tried to calm down, and not breathe as loudly, watching back out towards them.

Luckily for the fox, the two didn't follow him, but they did stare off after where he went, the blue one looking a little confused while the lynx didn't seem very surprised. 

Miles stayed as still as he could under the bush, hoping that they'd think he ran off even though he was still close by.

The tense few moments that followed felt almost worse than getting caught, as the fox worked to keep himself small and still under his new hiding spot, hoping they wouldn't entertain the idea of following.

They didn't turn back around, instead choosing to speak to each other and continue towards the plane. The kit finally shifted underneath the leaves and taking the opportunity to reach up to grab at an offending branch that had poked his spine for far too long. The fox didn't want to leave the safety of the bush quite yet, and he was curious about the plane still, so he pricked his ears and listened.

Sonic had guided the old lynx, who he'd learned was named George, back to his plane. The old man had generously said he'd come take a look at the plane free of charge to let him know what he needed to buy. Small towns were often nice like that, unlike big cities, which would have almost guaranteed charged him double, hero or not.

But when they approached the plane, he hadn't expected to see someone with it, so when a little fox bolted across the sand away from both the plane and themselves, he was a little shocked. His first thought was concern that the kid might have been messing with his plane, but as an after thought, the blue blur's not really sure that he would have done much more damage than what it's current state was. 

He glanced at the feline with him, who watched as well, but didn't seem that concerned. "Uh... You know who's kid that was?" He asked a little awkwardly, hand moving up to scratch some quills on the back of his head. "Hope he didn't mess with the Tornado." 

George frowned slightly, looking back at the younger. "I don't think he woulda done much harm to 'er. I'd be more worried about anything valuable ya had in'it. He's been known to steal, that one." Sonic blinked. 

"A thief, huh? Well... I didn't have anything worthwhile in the plane right now anyway." Shrugging it off rather easily compared to the rest of his morning, he eventually turned and headed to the plane, feeling a little thankful that he'd chosen to grab his money before running off to find help.

Shaking his head slightly, he focused on the task at hand. "I came down rather easy, but the Tornado was smoking from this spot here," Sonic continued, standing up a bit to stretch and point at a part of the engine that could be seen from the open panel. "She stopped a few times in the air, which is why I crashed like I did, but I need to know what tools to fix it."

The lynx hummed as he investigated further, hopping up closer to the engine and almost sticking his head right into the open panel. "Well, that shouldn't be too hard to get workin'. Yeah, I got most of whatcha need, kid. But I may have to order in a replacement part for this, that one looks pretty burnt out," The old man stated, pulling his head back out and returning his gaze to his customer.

Sonic almost groaned in annoyance, but he was grateful for the help of this mechanic, so he bit it back. "And, uh, how long would it take to get that, you think?" 

"A couple o' days, give or take. Providin' the weather be clear for a delivery."

"Cool, cool." Sonic replied quickly, sounding a little strained, in attempt to keep his disappointment under control. 

Not that the spikey lad had anywhere to be, that is- having not seen any sign of Robotnik after he'd beaten him recently. But moving was his thing, and he hated to be stuck in one place too long. "And I suppose I probably can't do much without that part, right?" 

"Small repairs, yes, but you won't be gettin' her off the ground without this part of the engine replaced. You'll catch fire before you even leave the sand." The lynx said, starting to walk back towards town. "How about I head back and order that part for you, and you can come see me in a few hours for the tools you need?" 

The hero nodded his head, giving a thumbs up, "No problem. I'll see ya." He turned away, closing the panel of the plane a little too harshly, sighing, when the old mobian went out of sight. "So much for the quick fix I was hoping for."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this didn't turn out too jumbled / rambley and hard to read, I had to re-edit one part of it about 3 times until I was happy with it haha  
> Just finished chapter 3 as I'm posting this, so that'll be posted soon enough as well!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Not So NIce

Miles grew tense again when the feline walked back towards town, but realized quick enough that he was doing just that: walking towards town, and not towards the bush he'd hidden himself in.

He felt a breath of relief leave him, relaxing a bit again now that he was super sure the attention definitely wasn't on him. 

And just as his body sagged, his earlier need to sneeze returned with a vengeance, face burning again as he tried to keep it in. But ultimately he couldn't, and sneezed loudly from his tiny hiding spot. His nose dripped, and he sniffled, angrily going cross-eyed for a moment to stare at the betraying muzzle in question, and used a leaf to wipe his nose.

The twin-tail was so preoccupied in rubbing his nose dry that he hadn't noticed his sneeze gave him away; the hedgehog glancing in the forest's direction. 

This wasn't the biggest concern about his sneeze, however, because just a little ways off, other children were following the trail to the beach, searching for the fox kit.

A yank on one of his tails made him squeak in pain- feeling his spine being pulled wasn't a good feeling- and he got dragged backwards from the bush with a yelp. "Look, guys, look what I found!" 

Looking back, Miles realized it was likely that these children might have been the same he heard at the restaurant. Did they see him run this way? Had they been looking for him this whole time? Well, it didn't matter now, because he had been caught now. 

"H-hey, let go!" The kit jerked away from the other who had a hold on him; a black panther cub who's name escaped his mind at this moment. The jerk on it's own wasn't enough for him to let go however, in fact, the cub gripped a little harder and yanked in the opposite direction. 

He could hear two others crashing through the ferns a little bit away, coming to see what the panther cub had picked out. His panick rising, he tried to get up, with little success. It's hard to stand when one of your tails are being held at an awkward angle.

"That's so weird, how do you even balance with these things?" The panther spoke over him, ignoring the kit's plea for release. He wasn't doing anything too harmful yet other than the yank on his poor tail, but Miles could already feel his impending doom. "Doesn't look like he does, he can't even get up!" A new voice, now, from one of the two other children that approached. 

A quick glance up told him that they must have been new, because he didn't recognize the two at all. Maybe they just moved in, or are visiting? They looked like two coyotes, possibly siblings, one older like the panther, but the other was younger like him. 

Another attempt at getting up failed as the feline grabbed his other tail- which had been lashing fiercely while he tried to stand- and yanked him backwards again with a yelp. "It's real?" The younger coyote asked, peering at Miles as if he were a science experiment. "Yeah, gotta be. Who'd wanna lie about being a freak with two tails?" 

Miles growled, young voice making it high pitched and really not all that threatening, "If you don't let go of me I'm going to bite you!" He warned, twisting around to glare towards the cat who had his tails. He didn't really want to, but having his tails held in such a way was hurting, now, and the pulls weren't doing him any favors, either. 

The panther had grinned mischievously, opening his jaw to retort, but another voice broke in. "Hey, watcha doin over here?" The voice sounded mildly concerned, and older than all of them, and caused all four to jerk their heads towards the person who had spoken. 

The three who were picking on the kit all gasped, seemingly recognizing him- in a different way than how the twin-tail recognized him as the hedgehog who owned the plane. 

In their surprise, the panther's grip loosened greatly on the fox. Taking the opportunity, he wasted no time in pulling himself fully out of the grip with one jerk, scrambling up and to the left; the only opening he could see as the coyotes were to his right and the hedgehog to the front. 

He bolted, this time not stopping in any nearby bush like before. He wouldn't risk letting those kids run after him, so he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, all the way until he practically ran into a tree in his haste, putting his hands out just in time to stop himself from slamming head first into it, panting. 

The kit fell down against the tree instead, letting himself catch his breath, not sure how far he'd run but figuring that he'd run long enough and could at least hear if he was being chased after. "I shouldn-... I shouldna stayed aroun- around for so long," Miles stuttered to himself, pausing in between words due to being out of breath. 

After a moment, calming down from his panicked run, a burst of sadness fell over him. _There are new kids around, and they already think I'm a freak!_ At the realization, his ears drooped, and he closed his eyes and let his head fall against the tree. "I coulda made friends with 'em, but now they prolly don't wanna." He gasped. "And now they're gonna tell that stranger with the plane, too! Ugh." 

His eyes burned, feeling like he wanted to cry, but refused to, and rubbed at his eyes harshly. "I won't cry. They didn't do anything to me, really... And... and maybe they'll be nice next time." It's a false hope, he knows deep down, but it helps him feel better for the moment.

Sonic had heard the not-so-far off sneeze just as he decided he would go take a look for some food in the village, not yet zooming off, so he paused and looked over where the sneeze came from.

He figured it must be the kit he saw running from the plane earlier, probably curious, or recognizing him as the one who defeated Robotnik(the newspapers were quick to publish his defeat, and with it, labeling the blue blur as a hero too). 

Deciding that he might as well try and say hello, or maybe even ask what the kid was doing with his plane, he started to head over towards the sneeze. A squeak caused him to stop again, as the kit was suddenly dragged into view, and along with him, a black panther cub who looked considerably older than the tiny fox he was moving. 

Were they playing? Even from here, Sonic could see that the kit was being moved from his tail- something that sounded a little painful. Walking closer, he was a little shocked to realize that this fox kit had _two tails._ Something he'd failed to notice earlier, when the kit was running. 

Two more kids followed up to the panther, speaking loudly with him.

Sonic was inclined to think that this kid must be pretty cool with an extra tail like that, but he paled a little hearing the children's conversation, understanding relatively quickly that they weren't here to play, or if they were, it wasn't nicely.

He could see that the fox wasn't having a good time already, so he decided to head the rest of the distance with his iconic speed, stopping just a few steps away from the bush that the fox had been pulled out of, and spoke loudly. "Hey, watcha doin over here?"

All at once, the four jerked their heads to look at him, clearly surprised to see someone else there. They gasped, even, the older three children staring wide-eyed and in awe. They had obviously heard of him, then, because Sonic recognized those looks from people who he had saved in the past.

The panther lost his grip on the fox kit's tails, and the kit didn't seem to recognize him like the others did, or maybe he was preoccupied on his new-found freedom, since he took the opportunity to get up, tripping a little, and bolt off into the forest away from them.

Sonic almost bolted after him, keeping in mind what the old lynx had said- the speedster was led to believe that there was a possiblity the kit stole from these kids. However, not seeing any of these kids before, he simply just repeated his question, wanting an answer. "I said, what are you kids doin'?"

Repeating it seemed to do the trick. "Wow, Mister Sonic, sir! It is you, right? I can't believe this!" The older of the two coyotes exclaimed, tail suddenly wagging. The panther was the one to answer the question, though. "We were jus' playing a game."

"Oh yeah? What game was that?" Sonic asked, responding as quick as his speed.

"Well, it's a game where we find the- the fox." The cub slipped up over his words, as if he was going to say something else, but stopped himself in time. It was also, at this point, that they realized the kit had escaped, but they couldn't do anything about it now. Finally, the younger of the two canines squeaked out happily, "We wanted to see the feral with two tails!"

The cub spoke again, this time, before Sonic could question it. "Yeah, but mister. You should stay away from him if you see him, he's a freak." The eldest looked down on the three kids with shock, eyebrows raised. "Wait, freak? Feral? What d'ya mean he's feral?" Sonic frowned at the statement of this child.

"Jus' what we said! He lives in the forest, and he's bitten my friend before. So he's a feral. You should stay away from him, really. Hey, did you really defeat that mean man all by yourself?" 

"Well... then maybe you kids should stay away too, sounds like. Or try to play a little more nicely. Calling someone a freak isn't nice." Sonic wasn't very convinced about the 'feral' part, because he was certain he heard the orange fluffball speak, so at the very least he wasn't all feral. 

Not sure what to make of the situation, he ignored question at the end of the kid's reply because he didn't really want to talk more to them. Feeling his stomach grumble, he guessed he should shrug it off for now, since kids are prone to lying and making things up. 

"You kids can uh... go play, I guess. Thanks for answering my questions. I'm off to grab some grub." He said without letting the kids give a reply to his previous comments, and gave a reluctant little wave. "Ah- uh- Bye, Sonic, sir!" They seemed to all still be in quite the awe, stuttering in an attempt to reply to the sudden departure. 

They likely wanted to ask him some more questions, but he already dashed off and left them in the dust, ready to begin his search for chili dogs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Tails : (  
> This chapter was a little hard to write! I wasn't really sure how to write out Sonic's reaction in the end so I hope it's not too bad/awkward/weird  
> As of right now, I'm halfway through with completing the next chapter, for those who are wondering!


	4. Slow Thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's a little short! But that's because I actually split the chapter into two, sorry! Hope it's good anyways, haha

Miles stayed out away from the village for the rest of the day, until the sky began to grow pink and orange, marking the sun setting. He had camped out in a tree, in attempt to deter anyone who might have found him from getting to him. 

Luckily for him, while someone else might have had trouble climbing, he had learned a while back how to climb. Not only that, too, he had his own secret trick he kept under wraps. 

After all, letting people see him get lifted off the ground by his tails probably would only give them another reason to think he was cursed, or bad, or a freak... Mostly, the adults were the ones that called him cursed, and by extent, the children who listened now considered him a freak as well. 

It wasn't his fault he had two tails.

And he didn't think it was all that bad to know how things worked... or be able to build things.

...But maybe he was wrong about that, since everyone always gave him shocked looks when he presented little trinkets he'd built in the past. When they tolerated him, anyway. Now they chase him off a lot more, and because of that, he couldn't really make anything anymore. 

_Come to think of it..._ Miles shifted upon his perch, peering into the other trees, towards an old hiding spot he had. _I haven't been able to make anything since those kids found my stash a week ago._

The twin-tail huffed continuing to shift on the branch uncomfortably, distressed. Today had started out good, but now it was no good. His tails flicked, mind working. His belly decided it wanted to work, too, because it grumbled at him, asking for food. 

"Okay, I'll make it good again, then." He said to no one, shifting on the tree and preparing to get down, tails beginning to twirl, he looking down and around his tree.

When nothing out of the ordinary popped out at him, he jumped off his branch and plummeted towards the earth. His tails, spinning rapidly, slowed his descent so he touched the ground with almost little sound.

The fox glanced around just one more time, ears swiveling and listening, before finally setting off. 

_I'll just have to make a new stash, and play by myself, like I've always done._ He was forcing himself to think about the more positive aspects than to focus on the bad ones, which helped him feel a little better. 

Only a little bit, though. 

His belly groaned again. _But first, I'll see if I can get some more food!_

Finding a place that made chili dogs was relatively easy. Sonic had found one in under a minute, but given there weren't that many places within the little town anyways, it probably wasn't that impressive. 

But the chili dogs were good! This restaurant knew how to make 'em, that was for sure. They were definitely on the better side compared to some of the ones the city might try to sell. Those ones were still good, but there just was something better about small establishments making them.

He had sighed, in love with his food, savoring it for what it was. He didn't have much else to do, so he just chilled around the place for a little while, watching smaller kids run by or an adult or two making conversation to the restaurant owner. 

Getting up from the table he was sitting at after a bit, the blue hedgehog decided it'd been long enough and that he should go grab those tools. At least he could try to do something to fix his poor plane, even if it wouldn't be running until they got that part in. 

Sonic picked up the two extra chili dogs he'd ordered, closing them into a take-out box given by the staff, and waved goodbye to the waiter. "Thanks for the food!"

Then, almost way too slowly, in his opinion, he arrived at the mechanic shop. After all, one could only go so fast without ruining the food in his hands, even if it was protected from the wind within a container. 

The old lynx gave him said tools with a nod, reassuring that the part was now ordered and would arrive in a few days. Remembering the odd interaction with the children, Sonic did try to sneak a question in about it. 

No good, however. The lynx didn't explain much other than what he had said earlier; it didn't seem like he knew what was going on anymore than Sonic did. Or the feline was reluctant to tell him, since he seemed like he was avoiding it.

A few hours later, Sonic fell into the sand with a noise of discontent. "It's no good!" He yelled out to the world. "I'm just not good with repairs. Even the small ones are mocking me! Ugh!" He half-heartedly glared towards the plane, but sighed. He couldn't put the blame on his plane. 

It was probably his own doing that caused this, so now he's just got to fix it. But, maybe a nap first. Actually- not a nap, more like sleep until morning, since he could see that the sun was setting. His eyes blinked closed.

Sonic's mind moved slowly, drifting back to the two-tailed fox kit he'd seen earlier as relaxed into the sand. He shook his head a little to try to get rid of the thought, and then slightly cringed at the movement feeling the sand already getting into his quills. 

Well, hero or not, he really should stay out of other's business. The situation itself was confusing, he knew he didn't really get much intel from those kids, and the old lynx didn't say much either.

Maybe just to let his brain settle, or maybe because his gut feeling was telling him something was up... he decided eventually that maybe he'd try to talk to the kit if he saw him again. See what was going on.

His mind slowly lost the will to stay awake after that, drifting into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if it's a bit slow right now! I have a lot for the next chapter bc of the split so that'll be here soon! Thanks for reading!


	5. Sleeping Impressions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! Got sidetracked by the other fic i was writing, haha  
> Hope you guys like this chapter! Sonic and Tails finally actually get to have more than a 2-second interaction

Sonic's ear twitched, hearing the bushes rustle nearby. It woke him up a bit, but he didn't move. It's not like anyone would come to pick a fight with him.

....Well, Robotnik did. But he hadn't shown up in a while, so it probably wasn't something to do with him. Not in this small town.

When the rustling grew quiet, Sonic thought it may have just been a wild animal. A flicky, maybe. He started to fall back into sleep, but then he could just barely hear it: soft, quiet footsteps on the sand. Deliberately placed to be quiet. 

Curiousity, and a little bit of concern for his own well-being, caused him to open one eye slightly, looking towards the sound. 

The universe must have been waiting for this chance, because it was as if fate itself intervened to make this coincidence happen. Just as he had been thinking about the kit not that long ago, he decides to make an appearance!

The fox must not have seen that Sonic opened his eye, because he didn't react to it, and kept creeping up, limbs trembling slightly. _What's he doing?_

For curiousity's sake, Sonic watched him, keeping his only open eye as close to closed as possible while still being able to see, just to see what the kit was doing. He wasn't all that worried because he was certain he could control the situation if anything bad happened.

The kit shifted closer, but wasn't heading for the hedgehog. He took nervous glances at the older one, but his direction headed slightly away, towards an object next to him. The extra food he'd gotten.

Then he paused, and tilted his head, slightly, and even with Sonic's limited vision he could see those big ears flop over slightly. It took a lot of willpower not to smile. 

The kid seemed to be disbelieving in Sonic's act however, since he squinted at him now, instead of going towards the container of food. Sonic snapped his eye shut completely and did his best impression of being asleep. He didn't really want to scare the younger away.

His sleeping impression must have been really bad. The fox kit tensed hard enough that he moved the sand at his feet from going stiff, and he moved abruptly just after. The sound of the container being ruffled made Sonic re-open his eye; both eyes now, just to see the tip of orange tails already fleeing towards the forest, sand kicking up in his efforts.

The speedster watched in shock for a second, surprised by the speed he had. If it were anyone else, the kit would have gotten away. 

Too bad he was up against the fastest thing alive.

Quick enough that you'd miss it if you blinked, Sonic practically appeared in front of the kit, hands held out in a block, and said loudly, "Stop!"

The four year old yelped just as he crashed into the other's chest, dropping the box of chili dogs in the process, but it somehow didn't open from the rough landing just behind the hedgehog. 

He fell to the ground then as well, right onto his tails and caused him to yip in pain and quickly readjust. He blinked with big owlish eyes towards the blue blur, full of shock, and sudden panic, or maybe fear.

Sonic frowned, putting his hands on his hips. Neither of them spoke for a tense moment, and the younger seemed rather frozen, unwilling to get up and try to run again. 

Eventually, Sonic spoke first. "Why'd you do that?" He eyed the kid, taking in his rather skinny shape, which could be seen despite the amount of fluffy fur the kid's body held. 

He kind of knew the answer already without asking, but he wanted to see if he could coax the vulpine into a conversation.

The kit's ears flattened against his skull, and he didn't seem willing to talk. His eyes darted to the ground instead, keeping his mouth shut and keeping himself frozen, almost as if he thought if he didn't move, he'd be forgotten.

Trying to seem friendly, the hedgehog took a breath and spoke again. 

"It's okay, I'm not mad or anythin'... You know, if you wanted the food, you could have asked," The words were spoken gently, a little awkwardly adding on the last part in hopes to get the twin-tail to respond.

Finally, the younger looked back up with those big blue eyes, biting his lip for a moment. Sonic thought that maybe he really wasn't going to get an answer out of the kid, but then, quietly, he got an answer.

"I could've?" It was a question that was really akin to the child's age. The kit's ears lifted partially so they weren't so flat against his head, but they were still lowered.

The speedster smiled, "Yeah! I mean, I was just savin' it for later, but you look like you could use a meal. A big one." 

Slowly taking a step backwards as to not scare him, Sonic moved to grab the container, dusting off some sand.

The fox seemed perplexed, a little. "Mm.. But.. anytime I asked anyone before they jus' yelled at me to go away."

"Well, I guess I'm not anyone. Why don't you come sit down with me by my plane and then you can eat some of this?" He opened the box slightly, checking just in case to see if the food inside was ruined at all. They were a little roughed up from the fall, but it didn't seem like sand or dirt got into the box. Safe enough for eating.

A long pause, and the kit's ears slowly perked forward more, but his eyes showed that he wasn't fully buying it. The next question was fully expected. 

"Really? ... You're not prankin' me?"

"Why would I prank you? Come on." Sonic closed the lid and held out his hand that wasn't holding the box towards the twin-tail, who hadn't moved to get up from the ground.

Whether it was because of the kind smile on his face, or the temptation that he would get food, or even because the older looked trusting enough to the kit, Sonic wasn't sure, but he got an answer: "Okay." 

He accepted Sonic's hand, and Sonic pulled him up to his feet without difficulty, releasing his grip when he was sure the kit wasn't going to drop onto his knees from being unbalanced. He headed back towards the plane, with a shy fox in tow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another slightly short one I think, but I thought it was a good spot to cut if off for the chapter! Next chapter I think Sonic and Tails will get to know eachother a lil more now that they're actually able to talk to each other!  
> Hope you guys liked it! As always, thanks for reading!


	6. Invested

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! It's been a while, haha  
> I finally finished up this chapter, I went through it a few times and I still feel like it needs some work, but I'm not sure how to fix it / add to it at this time... Maybe I'll come back and re-write it in the future. For now however, here you go!

The hedgehog sat down first, against the side of the plane. He looked at the fox expectantly until he sat down just across from him in the sand, staring back.

The dopey smile that expanded on the kit's face when Sonic offered the box to him was definitely worth losing his left overs. 

"Thank you!" He spat out quickly, taking no time in devouring the chili dogs with a speed that probably could have rivaled Sonic's own. It made him worry that the vulpine may have to deal with a stomach ache after.

So he voiced his concerns. "Slow down and savor it, kid!" He said, good-naturedly, rather than in a bad tone. "You're gonna make yourself sick if you keep eating like that."

But the deed was done, the child had practically inhaled the food, and sheepishly grinned back, ears drooping slightly. "Sorry, I was jus' hungry." 

Sonic laughed. "Just hope your stomach doesn't have anything to say about it later." 

The fox's ears twitched at the same time, and he stared towards the older for a moment, looking as if he just realized something big, or maybe he was just surprised. But whatever it may have been, he didn't mention it, instead pricking his ears upward from their droopy current nature. 

"Well, I eat like that a lot, so I should be fine!"

The speedster hummed, not fully believing it would be fine. "Is that right?" 

"Yeahuh!" The younger nodded eagerly.

"I'm shocked you haven't choked on anything yet, then. You must have a super power for inhaling food." Sonic said as a bit of a joke- he made sure to keep himself sounding friendly so it wouldn't be taken the wrong way. In which, it did get a good reaction out of the kit in front of him: a small giggle. _Small victories, Sonic, small victories!_

Moving on, Sonic thought to ask some other questions, since the fox seemed a little more bold now. Hopefully they wouldn't scare him away. "You know, the locals say you live in the forest 'round here. That true?" 

Deliberately, the blue blur decided that he wasn't going to ask about the fox's double-tails, since the earlier situation with those kids definitely proved to him that it would be a sore topic for him. (Even if they seemed like a pretty sweet addition to have.)

The kit grew silent, but after a bit of hesitation, he mumbled out an answer. "...Yeah. I live in th' forest." He dug his chin into his chest as he did, clearly a little shy about saying so. 

"All by yourself? How old are you?"

"Uh, yeah. I do. I'm four, I'm old 'nough!" 

"That's a pretty brave way to be living for a little kid." Sonic scratched the back of his head through his quills with his hand, "But I can't really say anything against it, seein' as how I live by myself, too, I guess.." This last part he moreso muttered under his breath than said to the other. Thankfully, the younger didn't seem to hear this part.

"S'okay, I can take care of myself! 'N I'm not little." The vulpine responded while lifting his chin again, obviously determined to think he could in fact do so. But Sonic wasn't entirely convinced of that, because the he really did look like skin and bones.

Trying to convince him otherwise slightly, Sonic responded: "But sometimes, it's better to be with someone, even if you're able to be on your own." He hummed, trying to come up with another reason. "Don't you get cold?"

"That's okay, though, cause I don't need anybody. And I don't get cold often, I got thick fur. S'okay, really." The twin-tail lifted his arm to show the other just how thick his fur really was, pressing his other hand into it. 

"If you say so." 

" 'Sides, aren't you by yourself too? You're not an adult, I can tell!" It seemed that he was trying to turn the conversation back towards Sonic, now.

The hedgehog smiled. "Yeah, I am by myself. But I'm much older than you- even if I'm not an adult," He retorted, "And I don't live in the forest." 

Sonic realized he hadn't exactly introduced himself, so he continued further. He was almost sure that everyone at this village knew him already since those other kids knew who he was, but just in case: "The name's Sonic, by the way. What's yours?"

"Uh..." Suddenly, the fox looked nervous once more. He pushed himself up to stand with his hands mostly, tails flickering. He was ignoring Sonic's question. "You know what, Sonic? It was nice talkin' with you, but I really gotta go," Sonic eyed him suspiciously, and he kept talking. "I got somethin' I gotta do! Thank you for the food!"

And with that, the fox took off towards the forest once more. The kit was quick on his feet, and even though Sonic had just witnessed it not that long ago, it still seemed to surprise him. The kid definitely had potential, as young was he was.

Though he did sputter out a "Wait, kid!" as the vulpine left, the speedster didn't follow him this time, allowing him to go off into the forest on his own. He watched with a concerned look, suddenly a bit more invested in the well-being of this child that he wanted to be.

Sure, Sonic has been by himself for a long time too, and even defeated an evil mastermind once already. But that's because he has speed, and the power to fight... He wasn't so sure he wanted to see someone else as young as that go through being alone like that.

If he wasn't sure of it before, Sonic was definitely more than determined to help this child in some way while he waited on repairs for his plane.

It just didn't sit right in his mind to ignore what was so obviously a bad situation.

Sighing, Sonic shook his head, and began to settle down next to his plane, since night was beginning to officially settle. His mind kept him up, though, for a good while before he actually managed to fall asleep.

Miles panted as he slowed down in the forest, having ran for quite a bit after leaving the hedgehog's side. Looking back in the direction he came from, he breaths a bit of a sigh of relief. _He coulda came after me, but I'm sure glad he didn't!_

Thinking about it, he's kind of sad he didn't get to stay for a bit longer; it's been a long time since someone treated him so nicely. He figures that it's because he is a stranger- someone who doesn't know of all the bad rumors spread by the villagers.

And it wouldn't been nice to look at his plane some more, too! A little downcast, he reminds himself that it was for the better; He wasn't really ready to give out his stupid name to someone who was so nice to him. He didn't want to be made fun of again. It was already a miracle that he didn't make fun of his tails. 

That brought on a whirl of confusion, as well, as the kit realized that the hedgehog didn't really seem to react to his double features at all. _Did he really not notice them?_

Miles hummed, using a hand to pull his tails around and look at them. "Or does he not care?" 

Shaking his head roughly at the hopeful thought, he turned and kept going, until he found a big, familiar tree to go up into. It was getting dark, and now that he'd had some food, his body was telling him it was time to sleep. 

Already droopy-eyed, he slowly climbed up, using his tails to propel him slightly upwards, until he ended up at the big base of branches on the tree, surrounded by big leaves and considerable safety. 

The kit thought about the kindness that Sonic gave him, still, even as his mind grew hazy. "I'll jus'... I'll have to make it up to him later," Miles murmurred to himself as he was already falling asleep, curling up with his tails surrounding him. "Maybe he'll let me look at his plane and help fix it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for now, but I've gotten a few more ideas right now for what's coming next so be on the look out for the next chapter soon, hopefully! Thanks for readinggg
> 
> (Also, I'm still working on my other story, no worries! I've gotten a bunch written for the next chapter on that one)


	7. Unease

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO HELLO EVERYONE ITS BEEN A HOT SECOND since i've been continuing this fic! I apologize haha
> 
> See, I was feeling pretty bad about this one and was really close to just re-writing the whole thing. I had about, maybe 500 words written for like 2 months, and didn't progress on it at all. But today, I decided I was officially going to rewrite it... and then as soon as I tried to re-read and re-write, inspiration struck me and I just began writing the next chapter instead! So here we are!

By the next day, Miles was still feeling pretty bad for leaving so quickly- he thought maybe that Sonic would think he was rude, or mean, for leaving like that. But even so, it took the little two-tail quite some time to gather the courage to go back to where he'd seen the hedgehog. His name was a sore spot for him, just like his tails, since both were a common thing to be targeted for bullying.

He was also still feeling a little good, as well, since he had eaten so much of those chili dogs, too! Usually he'd wake up hungry, but for once he didn't really wake up that way. It wasn't often that happened.

With what he said before he fell asleep in mind, the kit skittered through the forest, much more slowly than his race through last night. It wasn't early early morning, it was closer to noon, now, as he made his way over. 

Poking his head through the leaves of a bush, he peered out onto the sandy stretch of beach. He was particularly careful about checking, and much more alert to his surroundings than before, ears flicked back to listen behind him as well this time. It was to prevent another incident of kids sneaking up on him again.

The beach was oddly empty besides the plane(which was sitting exactly where it had been yesterday), and there was no one in sight at the moment.

Except for one particularly bright blue hedgehog, which stood out like a sore thumb against the red plane he was messing with.

Taking in a big breath, he gathered his courage, looking around one more time. He couldn't see anyone else at the moment, so he began to move out of the forest. He moved until he was a little bit away from the plane, and Sonic, who's head was still half inside the panel that he was trying to do something with.

The twin tail figured that he was trying to fix it, but he could see the irritation in the hedgehog's movements, and knew that it probably meant he wasn't getting anywhere with his repairs.

He seemed... busy, with what he was doing, and that earlier courage was easily persuaded to leave the fox. He awkwardly stood there for a few moments, watching Sonic, unsure how to greet, and unsure if he should have come back over... Even if he wanted to help and show that he wasn't being mean for leaving yesterday.

Slowly, the longer the seconds went by that he went unnoticed, began to step back again, ready to trek back into the forest and find something else to do instead. Maybe he'd just-

His thoughts stopped in their tracks when all at once, the speedster pulled his head out with an irritated look that matched the feeling he was giving off. Miles jumped a little and stepped back, unsure if the negative energy would be directed at him.

It only took a good second to Sonic to notice the kit, and he seemed a bit surprised. "Oh, hi again!" The greeting seemed friendly enough, and the irritated look practically melted off the older's face. He almost seemed relieved to see the four year old again.

The fox's ears pricked, and he blinked: once, twice, before opening his mouth to speak. "H-hi." He already knew that Sonic was trying to fix his plane, but Sonic didn't know that he knew that, so he asked a different question instead of offering to help first. "What're you doin'?"

"I'm uh, trying to fix my plane. But I've never been good at this kind of stuff, so I should probably wait for that old man to get my parts for it first." He grinned sheepishly, taking a step back. "I thought maybe I could fix it myself and get off this island faster. Don't think that's the case, though. Probably making it worse!" 

It was clear the hedgehog was beyond frustrated with the fact that the plane was not working, as he explained it to the fox next to him. It still made Miles a little nervous, because when people are mad, they take it out on others too. 

His ears lowered slightly as a testament to this, and he responded quietly. "Maybe I can help?"

Sonic eyed him for a second, likely trying to tell if the kit was serious or not, then settled on waving him off. "Nah that's okay, squirt. But I appreciate the offer," He moved forward and reached out towards Miles. 

This confused the vulpine, and he flinched slightly, flattening his ears. Though, there was no bad intention with the movement from Sonic, as it ended up with just a pat on the head. As the twin-tail realized this, a smile grew wide on his face.

"Are you sure?"

"Very sure. Now, my turn to ask questions. I still don't know your name. Mind tellin' me?" 

Dang, Miles thought he would have gotten away without getting that question asked again for a while.

The kit was silent for a while, looking down and letting his tails twirl anxiously behind him. "I don't like it," He said, finally, when it seemed like the speedster was getting impatient with his silence.

"What? Your name?"

"...Yeah."

Sonic hummed, putting a hand to his chin in thought. "Well, if you don't like your name, then what do you want me to call you?"

_...What?_

Shocked by the response, Miles could do nothing but blink at him with his big blue eyes. 

No one had ever asked that one before.

"W-What?" He managed to stutter out his only thought after choking on his own tongue.

"I won't call you by your name if you don't like it. You can come up with something else that fits you, like a nickname." 

"Uh..." The kit thought hard, but his mind stayed oddly blank. "I don't know anything that would fit me right now," He sighed out after trying to come up with something, ears drooping and head tilting.

"Hmm, well, okay then. You can come up with something later. Just don't get mad that I'll keep callin' ya kid until then!"

'Kid' was a lot nicer than the insults the other kids called him, so he nodded. "Tha's fine! I'll come up with something!"

"Hey!"

The sound of someone else calling out from down the beach made them both glance in that direction; the younger of the two visibly flinching.

Coming from the direction of the village, just following the edge of the forest, Sonic could see were a few kids, one of which was from yesterday- the black panther- but the other three were not. The new children were a lynx, and two brown bears by the looks of them.

Oh joy. It seemed that he must have told his friends that the hero was out here.

Sonic internally sighed at the thought of him getting overwhelmed by fans again. _Well, it was bound to happen eventually, even on a remote island like this! And I did show up in town more than once already._ It wasn't that he didn't like being fawned over, but this situation in particular was less than ideal, since he was unable to keep moving on his travels, and that put him in a little bit of a bad mood. One or two kids, fine, but something tells him that this panther kid was going to have the whole town come greet him by next morning.

Beside him, he noticed the kit's fur raised slightly, and he had begun inching away from the hedgehog in the direction of the forest- a sure sign that he was about to take off.

A little sick of the twin-tail's constant disappearing act, the speedster darted out a hand to grab his wrist, which earned him a wide eyed look. "It's fine," He tried to reassure. "You don't have to run off."

Maybe his calm tone or his confidence was shining through, because the fox nodded. His head moved so little that Sonic could have missed it if he blinked. He seemed uncomfortable with staying, but through the hedgehog's encouragement he simply stepped closer. He pushed himself behind Sonic, tails intertwining together into one large puff of fur.

The kids came sprinting, sending sand flying everywhere, racing each other to see who could get to Sonic first. Noticeably, they were all younger than Sonic himself, who despite seeming a lot older(after all, who could say they defeated an evil mastermind at age 10?), definitely wasn't an adult either.

They didn't seem to pay any mind to the kit behind him, instead looking up with starry eyes. "Hello, Sonic! I knew ya'd be over here! See, guys?" The panther spoke loudly, partially switching to speaking to the kids beside him halfway through.

"Hiya, kids. What can I do for ya?" Sonic's upbeat reply came easily. Even if he was a little less than pleased about this situation, he wasn't about to take it out on these kids. Even though he was slightly wary by the reaction of the fox, and the 'game' he had witnessed the tail-end of yesterday that had included the panther in front of him.

The panther spoke again, since the other kids seemed way too ecstatic about just seeing a known hero in front of their eyes. "We jus' wanted to come talk to you- because you're cool! And maybe see if you wanted to play a game?"

The fox behind him pressed closer behind him, bringing a small worry to the back of the hedgehog's mind that he might spike himself on some quills.

Sonic eyed the kids, they all had big hopeful glowing eyes. Against his better judgement, he paused, and then said: "I'm a little busy, but... depends. What game do you want to play?" 

It was at this point the lynx noticed the shifting movement behind the hedgehog, and a scowl replaced his awestruck face. "Hey, wait, the mutate's here." The words were spoken with so much malice, Sonic blinked in shock- how could a kid that young speak like that? They weren't _extremely_ young, sure... but they were still not old enough to naturally hate like that. _What's going on here?_

At the word mutate, the twin-tail behind him flinched hard. Sonic thought he may attempt to take off at this point, but, instead he grabbed Sonic's hand with his own quivering one. Asking for help. 

The other kids drew their attention to the fox behind him now, as well. "What? Why are _you_ here?" They seemed to instantly change attitudes, turning from happy-go-lucky kids to almost complete predators, moving to the side of Sonic to get closer to the twin-tail.

Well, that was a turn, for sure. The earlier incident made it seem like the kids weren't inherently trying to do harm, they just didn't know much better. This time, however, it seemed that they were genuinely angry towards the fox. But why? The lynx kit said 'mutate', is it because he has two tails? Really?

One of the bears scowled as well, and looked at Sonic again. "I'm- I'm sorry, Mister! We didn't know he was botherin ya- We'll get him out of here so he doesn't curse you, too!" The lynx moved like he was getting ready to grab the fox, but Sonic wasn't going to have it. He shifted his weight, standing tall and putting a hand out around the fox. 

"Hey, stop that. He's fine here. Curse? What are you talking about?" Sonic spoke quickly, attempting to get their attention back on him and stop the kids from entirely focusing on getting the fox away.

He must have sounded a little irritated or something else, because the kids seemed to listen for the moment, stopping their movements and looking back at each other, then focusing on Sonic.

The lynx spoke this time, eager to explain. "Mister, that mutate is the reason our village has been doing so poor. My parents said that ever since he showed up, the village has had many disasters and bad things happening, and that he was cursed!" This was news to the hedgehog; as previous the kids had only just reasoned that the fox was a freak. What a stupid lie.

"Something tells me he's not the reason for that. Don't believe your parents on that one, he ain't done nothing wrong." 

One of the bears seemed personally offended, brows furrowing angrily. "But he bit me before! And it got infected." Behind him, the two-tail let out an indignant sounding puff of air, but didn't comment. 

Blinking, Sonic's gaze went wide, but he wasn't _overly_ surprised by this fact. One kid mentioned it before, and considering the way they all turned so hostile in a moment, something tells him the bite was probably for good reason. Even if it was a bad thing to have happened. 

Grimacing slightly, Sonic defended it. "Well, the way you all jumped at him just now, I've got a hunch that it was provoked. Anyway, why don't you kids go play somewhere else, if you're not gonna get along with him?" He took a quit swat at the air where the smaller of the two bear mobians began to move around the side to get closer. The vulpine shifted to the other side behind him, letting go of the grip on his hand, perhaps ready to actually run, now. "You don't need to attack him, I'm okay with him being here." Sonic attempted to reassure while calming the situation.

"But he's a freak! He's not like you, Mister Sonic!" One cried out, clearly not understanding the reason why a hero like himself would hang out with someone who's different. But Sonic rolled his eyes, a little irritated at this interaction. Suddenly, he regretted how little he'd butted in before, not moving to help the fox straight away and instead focusing more on minding his own business. 

"Oh yeah? A freak huh? What does that make me?" Sonic moved his hand to gesture to himself. "I'm a bright blue hedgehog that's the fastest thing alive. I'm not normal- so I must be a freak too, right?"

They all seemed quite stumped with that reply. But then, the panther's lips turned into a small smile as he figured it out eventually. "Well... no, because you're a hero! You saved a lot of people, and help whenever you're around. You're no freak." 

Humming, the hedgehog came up with a reply with speed, like he's known for. "So was I a freak before I did all my heroics?" Then he continued again, not allowing time for the kids to try to keep reasoning- you could never truly win with younger kids when they had something stuck in their minds. 

"I don't think so. Whether or not you think these bad things happen because of little Tails over here," Nodding down to the kit in question as to show who was talking about. Said kit also flicked his ears at the direct mention. "He isn't a freak either. He's a kid like you." The speedster didn't take much notice of it then, but put on the spot he had created a simple nickname to refer to the fox because he didn't have any other name to say besides 'kid' and when you're talking to a bunch of kids, that doesn't work well. He didn't think hard on it though, in favor of keeping an eye on the hostilities in front of him.

At this point, none of the kids seemed eager to talk to Sonic anymore, more filled with childish anger. They all glanced at each other, before inching away back to eachother. "You know what, mister, we'll listen to you. We'll just go play with someone else," The lynx spoke, voice telling of a kid angry they didn't get their way.

They walked off together, kicking the sand, heading back towards the village. Sonic wondered if they'd learn better, or if they were not fighting further because they idolized him.

With the danger now gone, he looked back towards the fox who clung to his legs. The poor guy was shaking, and no wonder, with how those kids acted towards him the second they saw him just now. His ears were flat, and his eyes were watery, unshed tears threatening to fall. "Hey, hey. You're okay," He spoke gently, recognizing a kid about to cry when he sees it. "I scared them off. Don't worry."

The kit sniffled loudly, pulling his tails around himself instead of being twined together, now that the children had left. "I- I'm sorry I caused you trouble, Sonic." The voice wobbled as he spoke. "I didn't know you were _that_ Sonic, either."

"Hey, no trouble caused. Just like I told them, you're fine!" He quickly responded, trying to uplift the vulpine's spirits. "And, yeah? How many blue hedgehogs with super speed do you think are in this world?" He spoke this question with deliberate playfulness, which worked out, since the younger broke into a tiny laugh from his almost-crying. He blinked his tears away, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "I- I dunno." The kit mumbled in a way that only children tend to do.

"That's okay, kid. But man, is that why you're so jumpy? I would be too if I was treated like that all the time." 

The fox nodded, moving away from Sonic finally, though he was still quivering a small bit, it was lessening now. "They think I'm bad for the village, but I jus' want some food, honest. I don't cause their food harvests to be bad, I just take a few fruit sometimes in the summer... Do you think that makes the harvests bad, Sonic?" 

It seemed that he almost was believing what they constantly said to him as well. Sonic shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I think they just want someone to blame. And they shouldn't be doing that."

"Oh." The kit looked down at his hands. Then, his ears pricked a few times and he looked back up. He opened his mouth, but then shut it. 

"What is it?" Sonic asked, noticing the hesitation. 

"You really don't think I'm a freak? That... my tails are bad? A curse?" These words were spoken in a very hesitant, quiet tone, like the kit was fearful of the answer.

Man, how much were they bullying this little guy? He'll have to speak to some of the locals and give him a piece of his mind. 

"No, your tails are pretty cool! They get an A+ in my book," The hedgehog gave his signature wink and a thumbs up to further prove his point. "Your differences are what make you special. Like how I'm super fast. You have tails. Man, I'd kill to have two big fluffy appendages like that- you'd never get cold!" He could practically see the kit's eyes grow wide, as if he'd never been told anything like that in his life. Ears that were still laid back slightly perked up fully, focused on the speedster in front of him. He even smiled a bit at the humor of the last part. 

_Good. He shouldn't think they're bad just cause a bunch of bullies told him so._

"Now, I think I'm gonna give fixin' this thing another try," Sonic continued, moving towards the airplane and tapping it's metal. "I probably won't get anywhere, but you can watch and make fun of me when I mess up. How's that sound?" 

A shy nod, followed by: "...O-Okay! But I won't make fun of you, maybe I can just tell you how to fix what you messed up!" 

Grinning, Sonic replied happily, "Sure, kid."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it so far! It's a lot longer than the other chapters of this fic, so I hope it's not too bad with the rambling haha  
> Hope you enjoyed, feel free to give me a review to let me know what you think!


	8. Loose Screws

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if the way this story is being written seems to have slightly changed the past two chapters, as this one and chapter 7 were both written like within the past few days, versus the rest of the story which had been written over two months ago! Plus, as I write more and more, I'm kind of finding exactly how it is I'd like to write, and Improving with myself along the way- so thats why some things may have seemed to be, different, I guess?
> 
> I just was particularly inspired, and I should be writing for chapter 9 soon since I have a scene in mind I've been trying to get out!  
> Hopefully there's not too many mistakes since I've written this all within the afternoon
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy!

The day progressed quietly after that point, and Sonic sticking his head into the plane and attempting to do _something_ that might fix it up. The little fox stood silently for a long time next to him, watching intently.

Besides voicing mutters of confusion and frustration, the hedgehog didn't seem to be getting anywhere. Which, to be fair, was an obvious thing considering he was missing a few major components to it. 

But then the kit spoke up, and caused an abrupt jolt from Sonic, who almost hit his head on the top of the opening from where he'd stuck it in trying to see. "Those two screws need to be tightened," He whispered.

Sonic pulled his head out, eyeing the kit. "What?" 

The twin-tail paused, gaze darting from Sonic to the plane, and then explained. He pointed a finger towards the two screws inside the plane he was talking about. They didn't look like they were loose, but...

Shrugging, Sonic took a wrench from the sandy ground at his feet, and then moved to tighten one. It was in fact loose. More than a little surprised that the fox spotted it, he tightened it, and then the other, which was also loose. He turned his gaze back to the kit, who was looking into the plane again, likely looking for problems like Sonic had been doing the past few hours. 

Those screws would have never been noticed by him, they looked like they were tight and in place to Sonic, so he would have never messed with them. "Wow, how'd you know that?" He asked, shocked.

The twin-tail shrugged, looking down towards the sand. "I could just see that they were loose," He responded. "I thought you were going to tighten them, but you didn't... So I just.... told you." 

"You got a good eye for this, then, because I don't know anything of what I'm doin' here. Thanks." Sonic smiled, showing gratitude. In response, the fox smiled slightly back, and then let his eyes continue scanning the plane.

Miles was a little surprised at the amount of things Sonic was missing as he tried to fix the plane. Usually older mobians knew what to do, but for some reason, it looked as though the hedgehog really didn't know anything about the plane. 

Which was a shame, because he could see plenty of things that might need tweaking- he thought it was an obvious thing but maybe he just... looked at plane stuff more than Sonic did.

Now encouraged by the compliment given for finding the loose screws, he spoke up again after spotting another spot with screws, which this time, looked a little too tight for the spot they were in. Sometimes things being too tight meant they might break... 

"Sonic," He said. The hedgehog in question hummed, glancing back at him again. 

"Can I maybe-" He paused in his words, remembering that Sonic had already told him no earlier, but it was too late now- he might as well finish his question. "C-Can I use the wrench so I can help too?"

Miles wasn't sure whether or not it was because of the newly found knowledge that Sonic discovered in him, or something else. But, after a moment of staring at him, he nodded, a warm smile on his face. "You know what, sure, bud. Here. Just don't bang it around too hard on the poor thing, I'm sure the Tornado has already taken enough abuse from me!" 

The fox's tails flicked happily at the response, eagerly taking the tool from the older's hands when it was offered. _Now I can help him like he helped me!_

Hopping to lean up into the opening, he went straight for the tight screws and loosened them slightly. It was a little hard to move them at first, but with a few tries, he managed to get them to move.

A glance behind him told him that Sonic was watching, but not angry, or concerned. He just had his hands on his hips, and seemed surprised.

Miles went on like this, for a short amount of time, mind blending into just thinking about the parts of this cool plane, and if there were things wrong. He could definitely see there _were_ things missing in here, and wondered how they got broken, or taken out. He gently touched things with the wrench, testing spots, and then after a while, he couldn't find anything else to do besides the spots that seemed to be missing parts or needed a different tool.

Moving back out and hopping down onto the sand, he held out the wrench with a smile towards the hedgehog, who gaped at him. _Why is he so surprised?_

"Wow, bud, you really looked like you knew what you were doing in there. Thanks for your help!" Grinning, he took the wrench back and moved to put that with the other tools, moving them together and hopping up to put them in a safe place inside the plane. 

The twin-tail felt his tails wag for a moment at the praise, happy that Sonic seemed to be very pleased with his help. "I wanted t' help you because you were bein' nice!"

"Aw, you don't have to help me just 'cuz I'm nice to you. Everyone should be nice." The blue one glanced towards the direction of the village, smile disappearing for a moment. "That's how it should be, anyway." 

The smile returned when he looked back at the kit, and then he put a hand on his stomach. "Now, I don't know about you, but I think it's time for some grub." His gaze moved up to the plane and then back to Miles. "Why don't you hang out with the plane and keep 'er company and I'll go get some food?"

Not one to deny food, especially now that it's been confirmed Sonic definitely wasn't going to give him anything bad, he nodded enthusiastically. "Okay!"

"Good, I'll be back in a sec," Sonic responded, turning on a dime and about to take off towards the village, but then hesitated and glanced back one last time, "Oh, and try to think up a name to call yourself too!" Then he zipped off, almost spraying the fox with sand that got kicked up with high speeds. 

Yelping, Miles jumped away from the spray, though it wasn't going to hit him, he didn't want to take the chance and have to dig more sand out of his fur. Sand was hard to get out!

Looking back towards where Sonic was told him that the hedgehog had in fact disappeared, off to the village with his speed. "That's really cool! I wanna move that fast," Miles breathed out to no one in particular. 

Then the words caught up to his brain. "Oh, yeah. A new name." 

Given nothing else to think about, and no new ideas at the moment, his mind drifted to the earlier incident with the older kids. A few things that Sonic said stuck in his brain from that; no one had ever defended him like that. Right, he also said _Tails._

So, that confirmed it. He did notice the kit's double feature. He had wondered in the moment if that nickname was meant to be an insult; because usually when someone referred to them, it was.

But Sonic had been defending him in the same breath, only using it to show he was talking about him. So, he didn't mind that he had two. 

Shifting, the kit sat down against the sand as his brain worked, and let his tails slowly wave behind him as they did when he wasn't paying attention. "Well, Sonic is named for his speed. Maybe I should be named for these?" Head turning to look towards them, he moved a hand to grab one and pull it to himself, staring at them. It was a big love-hate relationship he had with these things. They were the whole reason he was hated by the village. Why he had to hide all the time. 

But they were also the reason he could fly- something he probably wouldn't show anyone anytime soon- but still something he liked to do. It helped him find good hiding places. And they kept him warm when it was cold.

A sudden shifting in the bushes not too far away, just where the forest met the beach, caused him to jump. Pausing in his thoughts, he looked over, watching, suddenly fearful that those kids might have returned.

The worries were cut off before his mind could think on it more when a large bird seemed to explode out of the bushes. It took off into the sky, letting out loud high pitched calls as it flew off. 

"A bird" Miles sighed, relieved that it wasn't anything bad. He then tried to get his body to stop being so tense- as he had been ready to bolt just a moment before. It was a little worrying to be on the beach for him, since he could be spotted here, but the mobians that usually tried to chase him here had been scared off by Sonic- so he shouldn't be worried right now. And Sonic would be back soon, anyway, if anyone did come here. "I can just say he asked me to watch the plane if anyone does show up!"

Blowing out more air from his mouth to make a raspberry-noise, he practically deflated, mind turning in thoughts, and turned his gaze to stare out in the direction of the village.

Sonic was a very impatient hedgehog even at the best of times, given that he could move as fast as he could, and liked to move. A lot. So as he got over to the same place with the chili dogs as the day before, he was a little bummed to see it was a little busy.

Instead of standing and waiting in a line, he chose to go check in at the mechanic shop for the parts again- which confirmed what he already knew. The old lynx had sighed and told him, "Be patient, son. It'll be here in another day or two." 

With that answer, he dashed off back to the restaurant, and was pleased to see that those who had been waiting had either gotten their food, or had been tabled. So he was free to get his chili dogs.

While there, an idea hit him, and he decided to ask the restaurant owner what he couldn't get out of the old man yesterday.

When handing the large bear mobian the money for the chili dogs, he slid it in, as a casual thing, just to see what kind of reaction would give. Based on the way those kids had spoken, he wasn't sure how one of the adults might react to him talking about it, so this seemed like the best way to him.

"Hey, have you seen that fox kit? The one with the two tails?"

In the midst of giving the hedgehog his chili dogs, the owner paused in movements, but his face didn't change. "What of it?"

Defensive, it seemed.

"I was just wonderin' what was up with him, seen him a few times. He doesn't have parents? What's his name?" Sonic asked next, trying to keep his voice sounding as genuinely curious as he actually was.

A beat of silence came and went, before the bear spoke again. "His name's Miles Prower, if I remember right."

Feeling like he needed to urge the owner on, "And where's his parents? Do you know?" 

"His parents died in a crash a year ago. A lot of us had seen the signs of him being full of bad luck and disaster, so no one took him in." 

This only confused the speedster further. "Bad luck? You're telling me superstition stopped you from helping a child." 

"I have two kids of my own, Sonic. I wouldn't have been able to provide for him. Besides, he steals from my restaurant. And there's been plenty of proof that the kid's cursed. I've no choice but to shoo him away. Ask someone else if you're lookin' for someone to blame, kid." It didn't seem as if this guy really cared at all that there was a four year old just living out there by himself, likely starving.

To say that Sonic was frustrated at this thought alone was an understatement. Taking a second to keep his cool, he continued questioning instead. As infuriating these answers were, he wanted to learn information. Act later.

Putting a hand to his head, he continued. "And why do you think he's cursed?" 

"He's ruined crops, business, and steals. Mutates are always considered cursed- they always bring disaster around here. Kid's got two tails- the doctor warned his parents about the trouble he'd be, but they didn't listen. And look where that got them."

Maybe questioning this guy wasn't a good idea- he was getting some answers, but only ones he didn't want to hear, and it was justifiably making him angry. There was a lot more to figure out with this, but he didn't want to become so angry that he took out someone over the mistreatment of this four year old.

"Sounds like a dumb coincidence, rather than a curse." Snatching his two chili dogs from the man's hands, he turned and began walking out. "Thanks for answering, I guess. And for the chili dogs."

"Be careful about askin' others about him, Sonic. Not everyone will be as calm about talking about him like I am." 

Sonic didn't reply, then, rolling his eyes and darting off as fast as he could go without ruining the food in his hands, heading back to the plane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for now ;w; leave a comment and let me know what you think!


End file.
